International Hockey Federation president Leonardo Negro made a courtesy call on the state minister for youth and sports, Ahad Ali Sarkar, after his arrival in Dhaka on Thursday.
The minister and the IHF chief shared their ideas and discussed about the development of hockey in Bangladesh during the meeting. The IHF president assured Bangladesh of some help, informed the Bangladesh Hockey Federation general secretary Khawaja Rahmatullah.
‘Negro promised us to provide at least two sand turfs free of cost while he also promised to help in acquiring two more at a cheaper price,’ said Rahmatullah who was also present at the meeting.
Rahmatullah also said that he requested the IHF boss to help install floodlights at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium so that they can host international matches.
‘I said to Negro that we cannot host A grade international competition as we do not have floodlight facilities and he promised me to help on this issue as well,’ Rahmatullah said. He added that the minister also assured him of allotting land if the IHF provides them the turfs.
Meanwhile, Belgian coach Michel Kinnan arrived in the city on Thursday to ‘closely work’ with the national team ahead of their World Hockey League second round games in New Delhi starting from February 18.
The high-profile coach, who played 129 international matches for Belgium including three Olympics, will stay here until February 8. He will come to Bangladesh every month and will stay for 10 to 12 days each time.
‘I will be closely working with the national team and will try to improve their game as much as possible in the short time,’ said Kinnen during his first practice session with the team on Thursday.
‘At this moment I cannot say anything about the team as I know
very little about the players but after judging them for a few days I will be able to predict how far they possibly can go,’ said Kennan about the World Hockey League.
The IHF has provided the consultant coach
at their own expense to develop the game in Bangladesh.
-With New Age input
